Existing spreadsheet applications provide a view in which cell formulas are expanded, i.e., a formula as opposed to a result computed based on the formula is shown in a cell in which the formula was entered, with the cell/column size being expanded if needed to show the entire formula. FIG. 1A illustrates an example of a view of a prior art spreadsheet application in which values or results of formulas are displayed in cells that contain formulas. FIG. 1B illustrates a prior art view of the same data in which the formulas are expanded. As depicted, cell dimensions are expanded as needed to accommodate the length of the formulas in this view.
Existing spreadsheet applications also provide a search option by which both the values and the formulas of cells may be searched for a specified value.